Bravely Default HD offers nearly limitless team customization thanks to its take on the iconic Final Fantasy job system. Want to have a Monk who can cast healing magic to back up the party? You can. Need a dedicated tank to take the hits while wielding two shields? No problem. Maybe your Black Mage could use swords and heavy armor, it’s all up to you! And as it turns out, there’s a very subtle layer of customization underneath that robust job system which might influence the way you build your party.
Bravely Default follows four main characters throughout its runtime: Tiz, Agnes, Ringabel, and Edea. Each has slightly different base stats, which technically makes certain characters fit select jobs better than others. It doesn’t make a huge difference, as a character’s power will be predominantly determined by their job and their equipment. Still, stats are stats, and what is an RPG if not an exercise in taking every advantage to make your damage numbers as big as possible? Below you’ll find a breakdown of what stats each character excels in, and what that means for how you should build them.
Each characters’ base stats in Bravely Default
Both Bravely Default on the 3DS and the HD Remake on Switch 2 appear to follow the same rules when it comes to each characters’ stats. Here is what each character excels at:
Edea: Highest STR and VIT of the party.
Ringabel: Highest DEX and AGI of the party, though his stats are well rounded. INT is also high.
Agnès: Highest INT and MND of the party.
Tiz: Highest HP of the party. Has high STR, VIT, and MND
What do we make of this information? Well, let’s do another breakdown:
1: Edea is a clear candidate for a physical attacker or tank role.
2: Agnès is your best source of magic damage. She has an edge as a healer too, though I’d personally say the best defense is a good offense.
3: Ringabel is your best Thief or Ninja, but he can be a strong magic attacker as well. Ringabel’s naturally high AGI means he’s slightly more likely to attack before your other party members, particularly in the early game.
4: Tiz can be best thought of as a Paladin, even if you don’t need to build him that way. He’s your best healer if Agnes is already spoken for, and your best tank or physical attacker aside from Edea.
Tiz only lags behind the party in INT and AGI, making him almost a near mirror image of Ringabel. Which is fitting, as Edea and Agnès are both also opposites in their stat distribution.
The best jobs for each character in Bravely Default (through Chapter 1)
Take this section with a grain of salt, for reasons we’ll get into below. But if you’re still early enough in the game where these stat differences will be the most noticeable, consider giving each character any of the following jobs:
Tiz: White Mage, Knight, Merchant, Monk
Agnès: Black Mage, White Mage, Time Mage, Thief
Ringabel: Thief, Monk, Black Mage, Spell Fencer
Edea: Knight, Spell Fencer, Monk, Merchant
Caption: A screenshot of Bravely Default for the Nintendo Switch 2. Tiz, Agnès, and Edea are looking at a Black Knight who has boarded their ship.
After the opening hours, don’t limit your job choices to each characters’ role
When you’re still getting your feet wet with the game, your future job choices will likely be determined by the jobs a character has already used. For example, if Agnès is your magic attacker, you’ll likely keep her as a caster so she can seamlessly carry over her spell-slinging prowess to whatever job she equips next. A well balanced party will help a lot early on, but the more jobs you unlock, the more you’ll realize just how the game rewards you for thinking out of the box.
Does a party of four black mages sound crazy? Maybe, until you realize the job’s innate Black Resonance ability boosts magic damage for every Black Mage in your party, setting yourself up to potentially nuke bosses into the moon in a single brave-boosted turn. Conversely, you might decide to level up everyone as a Knight so they can learn the Two-Handed ability and tear through random encounters. Heck, if a character masters every job, they can become absolute monsters as a lowly Freelancer thanks to the Late Bloomer ability!
All of this is to say that there’s a lot to be gained by experimenting with jobs, even the ones that don’t fit a character’s role. And to restate what was said above, most of a characters’ power will come from their build and not their innate stats. Edea won’t be quite as good of a Black Mage as Agnes, but she won’t feel weak if you decide to build her as one either. So please, please experiment with your job choices as you progress, as you may be surprised by the combos you uncover. And considering just how long Bravely Default is, you’ll have plenty of time to level up your party before your journey is over.
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD is available on the Nintendo Switch 2.